Garment-supporting device.



Patented Dec. 5, |899.

M.,S. CHAPMAN. GARMENT SUPPORTING DEVICE.

(A.pp1ication filed Sept. 22, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Inventor' lao S Y/agmaz 5y his afttorney, i"'rl 1 :Miren STATES PATENTrrice.

MARC S. CHAPMAN, CF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

GARMEVNT-SUVPPORTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,558, dated December5, 1899.

Application led September 22, 1898. Serial No. 691,580. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARO S. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGarment-Supporting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for attaching garments to a belt,whereby the garment may be supported, and more particularly relates to aholding or retaining device especiallyadaptcd for use with trousers andskirts.

The object of the invention is to providea device of this characterwhich is simple in construction and durable in use and can be quicklyand readily secured in position,while at the same time it willeffectively support a garment from the belt and prevent the saggingthereof.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specication,Figure l is an outer side view of a belt with this improvedgarment-holder or retaining device secured to a garment and in positionon said belt. Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof, taken in line u. ct,Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating one way of placing thebelt in the holder or retaining device, the first step being illustratedby the solid lines and the last step by the dotted lines. Fig. 4 is anunder side view of this improved retaining or holding device removedfrom the belt, and Fig. 5 is rear side perspective view thereof.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts in thedifferent figures of the drawings.

This improved garment-supporting device in the form shown comprises abelt-engaging means (designated in a general way by A) and means(designated in a general way by B) for attaching the belt-engaging meansto one or more garments. This belt engaging means A comprises arelatively wide plate 2, which may be of either solid orskeletonformation and constructed of any suitable material andpreferably of a length corresponding with the width of the belt. Thisplate is provided with a pair of alined free-ended hooks 3 and 4, shownherein of less width than said plate, the ends thereof projecting towardeach other. In practice this belt engaging or holding device may beconstructed of one member, and the lower hook 4 may be of increasedlength as compared with the upper hook 3, whereby various widths ofbelts may be engaged by the holding device without liability of thedevice becoming detached. One of these hooks is turned slightly outwardat its free end and is shaped to form a relatively narrow or neckportion and an enlarged portion to facilitate the placing and retentionof the belt in position. Each hook may be suitably formed or have itsfront face suitably ornamented to presenta pleasing appearance. Thevattaching means B comprises a suitable means for securing the holdingdevice to the garment to be supported. In the present instance theattaching means is shown comprising two separate devices each of whichconsists of a safety device or pin 5, suitably connected to the plate 2and adapted for insertion through the materialv of the garment in theordinary way. For the purpose of insuring a close t of the holdingdevices against the outer side of the garment or trousers band, thesafety-pins 5 areautomatically movable or rotatable relatively to theplate 2, so that after they are secured to the trousers or garment theymay be free to swing or turn upwardly or downwardly, as the case may be,relatively tosuch plate, thereby permitting the garment to lie close tothe plate 2. (See Fig. 2.) To obtain this adjustment, the plate 2 isprovided with a pair of apertured projections 6 at the rear side,extending transversely thereof, and each adapted to carry the rigidmember 7 of a fastening device 5 and permit rotatable movement thereof.

In practice any desired number of these supporting devices may be used,three or four usually being sufficient. In use one of the ends of thebelt may be slipped through each respective holding device and so extendaround the waist of the wearer, or the belt maybe placed in position ina similar manner to that shown inV Fig. 3, one edge thereof being firstslipped into the hooked end 4` of the device, after which the oppositeedge is slipped into the hooked end 3 thereof.

By this construction it will be seen that the trousers or other garmentwill be supported in their proper positions relatively to the belt, andowing to the movable fastening devices Iloo the plate 2 will lierelatively close to' the garment or trousers band.

In this improved garment-supporting device it will be'readily seen that,owing to its construction, the fastening devices are independent of eachother and are located at relatively remote points, one freely movableindependently of the other, and the wearer can not only attach a skirtto the belt by two independent devices, which thereby prevents aconsiderable strain on the cloth at one point, but also enables thewearer to secure the upper device to a waist while the lower device isattached to a skirt, and the hooks carry the belt so that the pullingout of the waist from the skirt or the pulling of the skirt from thewaist is prevented, while both the skirt and waist are secured inposition relatively to the belt.

I claim as my invention- A garment-supporting device comprising a platehaving a pair of free-ended hooks in alinement and projecting towardeach other and adapted for attachment to a belt, one of said hookshaving an outwardly-extending end and shaped to have a relatively narrowand a relatively enlarged portion, thereby to facilitate the insertionand retention of the belt, and a pair of movable safety attachingdevices, one free of connection with the other and permanently securedrelatively remote to each other, one adjacent to each end of said plate,whereby they are adapted for attachment to adjacent independentgarments.

MAR() S. CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

WALTER S. BROWN, JOHN N. WILSEY.

